31 July 2005

My usual tasting featured nothing but Pinot Grigio (or Pinot Gris) and Pinot Blanc (or Pinot Bianco). Two different kinds of grapes, pretty similar as far as I'm concerned. I damned near skipped it. In fact, I didn't show up until halfway through the scheduled time. Even though I don't particularly like this grape, I finally decided to go and see if something surprised me. And while I had fun at the tasting (seeing the gang, trying to guess regions), I experienced my standard Pinot Grigio disappointment: there's just not much flavor. Given that, if you're a fan of this grape these reviews will be completely useless for you.

Wine 8: 2002 Trimbach Pinot Gris Reserve. Alsace, France. Another one from Trimbach, and this is one that nearly every person had a bad reaction to. There was a really horrible smell coming from the wine--I think it was brettanomyces, but no one present was familiar enough with the scent to back me up. Other people smelled ammonia, and one guy described it as "a high school science experiment gone horribly wrong". All of that aside, it didn't taste too bad. $20.

Continuing with the Summer of Dry Rosés, I tried the 2004 Marqués de Cáceres Rioja Rosé. From Spain, it's a blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha. Perhaps the most striking thing about this wine is the color--I haven't seen a good example of it online, but it's got an orange tint to it that's really captivating. As for the wine itself, it's not bad, but not impressive either. I actually thought that it would make a really interesting sangria.

24 July 2005

Wine 1: Terre Palladiane White Merlot. Veneto, Italy. This is the first White Merlot I've had, and I'm not anxious to try another. The Merlot grape has a sort of delicate flavor to begin with; made like White Zin, it's very watery, with just a touch of pink color. Slightly musky aroma with a medium sweet flavor. A lot of people seemed to enjoy it, though. $10.

Wine 5: 2000 Chateau Siaurac Lalande-de-Pomerol. Bordeaux, France. From the right bank, this is a combination of Merlot and Cabernet Franc with a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon. Herbal nose, strong tannins. Would probably survive for quite a while longer in the cellar. $19.

Wine 8: 2002 Eyzaguirre Merlot. Colchagua Valley, Chile. A wine that comes wrapped in a burlap sack for safe transport. I found this wine almost like Beaujolais, but not sweet. Very soft and delicate, with almost no tannins. Fun little wine. $10.

Wine 13: 2002 Blackstone Napa Valley Merlot. California. Definitely a step up from the standard Blackstone line. This has great sour cherry flavors and firm tannins. Would love to try this in a couple of years. $18.

Continuing with my love of dry rosés, I picked up a bottle of the 2004 Clos LaChance Estate Central Coast Rosé. It's a bright red cherry color, made from Grenache and Syrah. Pleasantly dry with a crisp acidity and great berry flavors. I had it with a chicken sandwich. It's an easy drinker as well--I was surprised at how quickly the bottle disappeared. Highly recommended. $11.

All of the wines tonight came from the same producer, Trinchero Family Estates out of California. This is the family that is responsible for first creating white zinfandel back in the 50s. Under their Sutter Home label they're one of the largest producers of table wine in the world. The revenues from that business are used to make smaller, higher quality wines, using grapes sourced from all over the state. (Each of these bottles listed the percentages from Napa, Sonoma, etc.)

Wine 1: 2004 Trinchero Sauvignon Blanc. A bit of a toasted almond aroma on top. It's quickly bottled after fermentation in stainless steel, so it's got a thin feel to it. I found the wine a little sour. Also contains about 15% Semillon. $15.

Wine 5: 2002 Trinchero Petite Verdot. Wow! This is one that is not commercially available around here, the distributor just happened to bring a bottle by. It's 100% Petite Verdot, one of the five red Bordeaux grapes. I've had it in blends several times, but only in trace amounts. It was a dark purple color, with incredible plum and smoke flavors. Dry and with surprisngly balanced tannins. Probably around $30.

17 July 2005

Similar to last week, this was a blind tasting of 12 Sauvignon Blancs. I wasn't overly impressed with most of them, and a few had really horrible aftertastes. Some of these I've tasted before, but they're scattered all over the place, and none really merit metalinks.

Wine 4: 2004 Charles Krug Sauvignon Blanc. Napa, California. This may have been an off bottle, but I was getting this weird sweaty, musky aroma off the top of the glass. It wasn't me or anyone around me, and the wine didn't taste weird, but it was hard to get past that smell. $16.

Hurrah! Another rosé from a beloved producer... As soon as I saw it I had to grab the 2004 Goats Do Roam Rosé. Had it for dinner with a turkey sandwich and caesar salad. Great little wine with a ton of grapes in it. It's dry, but has a pleasant red berry flavor to it. Perfect summertime wine, highly recommended. $10.

10 July 2005

For dinner Friday night, Paul and I split a bottle of the 2003 Zolo Malbec from Argentina. A good bargain at $10, but with great leather and dark fruit aromas. Solid flavor, but the tannins were easy enough not to overwhelm the roast rack of lamb and broiled goat cheese that formed the basis of dinner. Definitely recommended.

I used a $7 bottle of 2002 Hogue Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot as the basis for a sauce. It wasn't bad, but I think it was a year past its prime. It's almost half and half of the named grapes with a splash of Cabernet Franc in there. I'd like to try a newer vintage of this.

On a whim, I picked up a $6 bottle of the 2003 NO Sauvignon Blanc. I don't have a link, and it's damned near impossible to find any information on it. You can read a review here if you like, but I can tell you now: don't bother. The label says "NO oak aging. NO cork. NO malolactic fermentation. NO attitude. NO kidding." Might I add "NO flavor, NO good". It's an inexpensive screwcap white with a funky aroma and little or no flavor. Think about drinking Pinot Grigio while wondering if there's a peach rotting in the garbage can. Blech.

This is the first of eight rounds of blind tastings at the local wine shop... Each week they'll focus on a single grape or varietal, allow the tasters to vote on their favorite, and then towards the end of the summer, all of the big winners will be tasted together. Saturday's grape of choice was Cabernet Sauvignon. Cab Sav is great, but I get kind of bored with it. To get a good one, it costs more than I'm willing to spend on a regular basis, and I have a lot of fun with the lesser-appreciated grapes and regions. I've also had several of these wines before and wasn't just thrilled with them.

Wine 12: 2000 Javier Asensio Cabernet Sauvignon. Spain. The one wine that I really loved, and there's nothing on the website. This wine has left bank Bordeaux written all over it. Loved the aroma (green tomato leaves and spices), beautiful dark color, and great flavor. $24.